Can you split an XR tablet?

[daisy.girl]

My doctor.....actually, his nurse practitioner, gave me Keppra XR to start tonight. She said to 'break the tablet in half' for the first week.

I always thought you could not split an XR tablet.....so I read the insert, and it said 'do not break, chew, or crush.

So....I called the neuro's office back and spoke to the NP. She said, it is fine, I do it all the time.

I just wanted someone elses opinion on this??

Thanks

 

[epileric]

My understanding is that the tegretol will still work but it will not be time released so that the levels might peak & drop at certain times which means the side-effects might be stronger at certain times.

I guess this is OK if you are just trying to get it in your system to eventually raise your levels until it's effective but I can't say I'm comfortable with it. You should have asked to speak to the doctor himself, not the nurse. You should also get a neurologist if you don't have one. They are (or should be) much more familiar with the various AEDs.

I have to admit that "doing it all the time" does not mean it's good or it works. I've been told that before & it never made me feel comfortable.

 

[daisy.girl]

thanks.....
this is my neurologists office!

I am only suppose to split the tablets for the first few weeks, then take the whole tablet.

 

[Nakamova]

When I was tapering onto Lamictal, I was instructed to split the 25mg tablets in half. Not easy to do, since they are tiny and crumbly, but otherwise no problems.

 

[Crystal11]

I would go ahead and ask the pharmasist since they know how to make the medication and what can and cant be done to a medication.
They should have given you the right dose or doses so you get the right amount of medication to try.
I used to be one 700mg of Tegretol and I used to get two scripts for it: 200mg pills and 100mg pills which equaled 700mg. 3 + 1 twice a day. If that makes since.

I would talk to a pharmacist because they could call in to the doctor/neuro office.
The tablet is to be taken whole to keep the dose at the right level at one time. Other wise the dose is in half or less that what it is supposed to be.

Take care
Crystal

 

[Crystalblue]

My doctor.....actually, his nurse practitioner, gave me Keppra XR to start tonight. She said to 'break the tablet in half' for the first week.

I always thought you could not split an XR tablet.....so I read the insert, and it said 'do not break, chew, or crush.

So....I called the neuro's office back and spoke to the NP. She said, it is fine, I do it all the time.

I just wanted someone elses opinion on this??

Thanks

Hello. I would agree that a pharmacist would probably know best on this one. That's where doctors and nurses turn when they have a question about a drug. Having said that, working as a nurse, I have occasionally split XR pills in half (per the docs order of course). SOME XR pills are made in such a way that they can be split without ruining the time release effect. The pharmacist should know if this is one of those meds.

 

[daisy.girl]

thanks for your responses....my main concern was that this is an extended release tablet, so if I split it, don't I take away the extended release properties of the pill....and just all the medication at once?

think I will call my pharmacist too!